Carbonating apparatus



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J. L. HUDSON CARBONATING APPARATUS I Filed Aug. 22, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet2 lNVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 30, 1943 2,314,983

CARBONATING APPARATUS James L. Hudson, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Gentral Discount Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of MichiganApplication August '22, 1940 ,"Serial No. 353,636

3 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for saturating liquids with gases, andmore particularly to such devices used for charging water with car bondioxide gas, commonly called carbonators.

on the section plane passing through the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the" distributingtank, the viewbeing taken, on an enlarged scale, in the direction of thearrows on thesection plane passing through the line 3-) of Fig. 1. I

Fig.4 is a top view of the impeller wheel provided in the mixing tank,the view being The present application is a continuation-in-part taken,on an enlarged scale, in the direction of of my copending applicationSerial No. 327,176, the arrows on the plane passing through the filed onApril 1, 1940. line 44 of Fig. 1.

One of the objects of the present invention, is. Before explaining indetail the present invento provide an improved carbonator receiving tionit is to be understood that the invention is water from a supply lineand CO2 gas from a In notlimited in its application to the details oftank and delivering carbonated water to a disconstruct on an a rangemento Parts illuspensing faucet, I trated in' the accompanying, drawings,since the Another object of the invention istggprovide invention iscapable of other embodiments and an improved carbonator which deli rsand of being practiced or carried out in various ways. ejects carbonatedwater from a dispensi gffaucet 15 Also it IS [70 be understood that thephraseology in an even stream and without- 1' ting or of terminology empoyed herein is for the pursquirting, I pose of description and not oflimitation, and

A further object of the invention is to provide it is not intended tolimit the invention claimed an improved bo t r i whi h m ns re hereinbeyond the requirements'of the prior art. provided to prevent wastefulescape of the C02 In the n s there is n, by W yof gas if water stopsflowing into the device for example, an improved water carbonatingdevice any reason, such as because of a frozen pipe m o y g the presentinvention. The invenline, insufiicient water pressure or the like. 'tlonis herein illustrated and described as em- A further object of theinvention is'toprovide bodied in a device used for oarbo ter an improvedwater carbonating device which and d spensing the carbonated water.Howcharges a given-volume of water with-a greater ever, it will beunderstood that my invention quantity of gas and can operatesuccessfully may be Successfully pp i d a d embodied in on unequalpressures of gas and water. devices used for saturating liquids withgases in A still further object of the invention is to neral. and is notlimited to water and COzgas. provide an improved water carbofi&ting devie 4' The structure illustrated in the drawings having an automaticrelief valve operating in a comprises, gen rally. a mixin nk connectednovel a with the sources of gas and water supply, in

It is an added object of the present invenwhich n mixing of the Water agas takes tion to provide an improved device of the foreplace and adistributing tan from which the going character which is simple inconstruction, a o Water is delivered to a d p g dependable in operation,and is relatively infaucet While the two an are structurally expensive tf t separate and distinct the conduit which con- Other objects of thisinvention will appear in fleets them is always e y Open so that thefollowing description and appended claims. they constitute a o a ne thatis in a sense reference being had to the accompanying drawunitary andhas in ct a unitary interior ings forming a part of this specificationwherechamber Space in like reference characters designate corre-Referring to P drawings, the x ng tank sponding parts in the severalviews. comprises a cylmdfir closed at its y a Fig. 1 is a side view,partly in section, of an and at botmm by a member improved carbonatingdevice embodying the which-1s provided w1th a port to which is presentinvention; connected a condmt l4 leading from a refri Fig. 2 is atransverse sectional view of the g ga i g whlch'ljn g lgonnected to -iWa Supp 3. c ec valve I6 is 2:32;? 5:52 i ig ail zg gg g fig' 53interposed in the conduit 14 in order to prevent reverse flow of water.Adjacent the water port I3' there is operatively mounted a water'wheelor impeller I! which operates a mixer l8 mounted preferably but notnecessarily on the same shaft with the impeller II, this latter beingonerated by the incoming water. A conduit 19 connecting the mixing tankwith the source of gas supply opens into the mixing tank with a port 20.A gas diffusing stone 2|, which may be made of .any suitable materialsuch as carborundum or sandstone, is provided at the bottom of themixing tank under the water wheel IT. A check valve 22 is operativelyinterposed in the conduit l9 to preventreverse flow of the gas.

The top portion of the mixing tank is provided with a connecting conduitor pipe 23 leading 'to the lower portion of the distributing ordispensing tank into which it opens with a port 24 provided in themember 25 secured to a cylin leading into the atmosphere and adapted tobe closed by operation of a tension spring 30 connected to a lever 3|carrying the valve member proper 28a of the valve 28.

In the distributing tank there is provided a well 32 open at its top andhaving a ported bottom 33 provided with a valve 34 made of cork andopening downwardly, The well 32 is secured to the cylinder 26, and hasits top disposed near the upper permissible water level, while itsbottom is disposed near the lower permissible water level. Thus, theheight of the well 32 determines the general range of maximumfluctuations of the water level in the distributing tank, asherein'after explained.

In the well 32- there is operatively arranged a submerged chambered body35 connected to the lever 3| by means of a rod 36. In this design I makethe body 35 in the form of a hollow ball. It is provided with a drainingorifice 31 preferably about one-quarter of an inch in diameter, a gasadmitting orifice 38, preferably about'one sixty-fourth of an inch indiameter, and an additional gas admitting means in form of a tube 38 ofabout one-quarter of an inch in diameter, said tube being arrangedwithin' the ball as shown. The weight of the ball and the resistance ofthe spring 38 are so selected that when the ball is empty, the spring 30is capable of supporting the ball 35 and closing the valve 28. However,when the ball 35 contains a considerable amount of water, and the well32 is empty, the spring 30 yields to the weight of the waterloaded balland opens the valve 28. The spring 30 is also capable of supporting theball 35 when the same is submerged in water, whether empty or filled, inboth cases the loadon the spring being less than that produced by theempty ball when the well 32 is also empty.

The operation of my improved carbonizing device is as follows: The waterfrom the pipe line or any other suitable source of water supply entersthe conduit I 4 usually at a pressure of about forty pounds per squareinch and passes through the refrigerator l wherein itis cooled to about40 F. in order to increase its gas absorbing capacity. Passing throughthe check valve |5 the water issues from the port |3 in a stream capableof rotating the impeller l1 actuating the mixing wheel l8. At the sametime C02 gas usually under pressure from 60 to 120 pounds per squareinch is passing through the conduit i8, check valve 22, port 20, andenters .enclosed by the two tanks.

the mixing cylinder through the diffusing stone 2| which acts toseparate the gas into a large number of minute streams. Passing upthrough the stirred water, the gas is absorbed thereby and carbonatedwater fills the entire tank and passes through the pipe 23 into thedistributing tank. In starting operation of the device the draft faucetmay be held open until water begins to issue, the vent valve 28 being.closed. Then if the faucet is closed pressurebegins to build up in thespace With the pressure in the tanks approximately atmospheric when theinflow of water and gas begins, such inflow will continue in the case ofthe water until the tank pressure reaches the maximum water pressure inthe supply line and after that the inflow of gas continuesuntil the tankpressure reaches approximately that of the maximum pressure in the gassupply line. The rate at which the stone 2| and check valve 22 can passgas through it is low enough so that an ample amount of water can enterthe tanks before the pressure therein rises to the water supplypressure.

The carbonated water enters the distributing tank through the port 24and fills the tank until the pressure of the gas and air entrapped inthe upper part of the distributing tank substantially reaches a maximumgas pressure. This occurs when the water reaches the level approximatelyat the line 40-48. i

It will be understood that when the water level reaches the cork valve34, said valve will rise and close the opening in the bottom of the well32, but that when the water rises above the top of the well, thewell'will be filled and the body 35 will be submerged and filled.

If a quantity of carbonated water is now withdrawn from the dispensingfaucet, the water will drop to a lower level, say level 4|4|. This willrelieve the pressure in the distributing tank and will permit a smallquantity of gas to escape from the carbonated water, this being replacedby additional gas seeping in through the porous stone 2|.

It is an important advantage of the present invention that in mostwithdrawals of carbonated water from the faucet the resultingfluctuations of the water level in the distributing tank do not afiectthe relief valve 28, since the well 32 remains filled. Therefore, suddendrops of pressure during withdrawals rarely occur and the carbonatedwater usually comes out of the faucet in an even stream and withoutspurting.

When, however, the water level in the distributing tank drops to anundesirably low level,such as 42- -42, and continues to fall, the weightof the water in the well 32 opens the valve 34 and permits discharge ofwater through the bottom of the well. When the well 32 is emptied toabout level-43-43, the weight of the filled body 35 becomes sufficientto overcome the fesistance of the spring 30 and to open the relief valve28, thereby venting excess gas and decreasing the pressure in thedistributing tank and in the'mixing tank to substantially atmosphericpressure, This drop in pressure is made possible by the fact that thegas discharge capacity of valve 28 is much larger than the effectiveinlet capacity of check valve 22 and. diffusing stone 2|. Water from thesupply line then rushes into the mixing tank, and carbonated watercontained in the mixing tank rushes into the distributing tank fillingthe same again to the level" 4ll40.

By suitably proportioning the relative effective capacities of ventvalve 28, the check valve 22 and difiusing stone 2| and also therelative effective capacities of openings 31 and 38 and of the valve 34and tube 39, it is possible to insure that the vent valve 28 will beheld open long enough to insure admission of the requisite amount ofwater from the supply line and yet that the action of the system israpid enough so that the water will not fall substantially below thelevel 4444 in the distributing tank at any time under normal operatingconditions.

In Fig. 1 there is shown in full lines the respective positions of theparts in the distributing tank with valve 28 closed and well 32 filled.In dotted lines there are shown positions of the parts when thevalve 28opens.

It is also an important advantage of th present invention that shouldthe water supply fail for any reason no appreciable waste of gas occurs.In my improved device, should the distributing tank'be emptied, thewater from the body 35 will drain through the orifice 31, and the spring30 will then close the valve 28 preventing wasteful escape of gas. Whenthe distributing tank is being emptied rapidly, draining of water fromthe body 35 is increased in rate bythe action of the gas admitting tube39 which comes into action to aid orifice 38 when the water level in thewell 32 falls below the mouth of said tube 39.

There is thus provided an improved water carbonating device in which theaction of the vent valve is not dependent directly on the water level inthe distributing tank, and therefore fluctuations of said water level donot affectthe operation of the dispensing faucet; The device isautomatic in its action. In addition, should the water supply completelyfail, the device automatically shuts off the escaping gas preventingundesirable waste thereof.

In practice about 700, gallons of charged water will contain "about 150#C: of which approximately one-third will escape to the atmosphere duringthe periods when the valve 28-is open.

I claim:

1. In apparatus of the character described, the combination with acontainer having a unitary interior chamber space and constructed tohold liquid and gas'under superatmospheric pressure; valve-controlledconduit means for conducting liquid and gas into said space; and avalve-controlled outlet conduit for liquid leading iromthe lower part ofsaid space; or a vent conduit for gasleading from the upper part of saidcontainer space to the atmosphere; a vent valve for controlling saidconduit; and means for actuating 7 V the vent valve comprising a welldisposed with in the container inopen communication at its top with theinterior space of the container and uid level in the container tomaintain said aperture closed while the liquid in the container is abovea predetermined level adjacentthe lower part of the well and to opensaid passage when the liquid in the container falls below that level,and a body disposed in the well and operatively connected to the ventvalve and having an effective weight variable with change of the liquidlevel in the well to open the vent valve when the liquid level in thecontainer falls below a predetermined level.

2. In apparatus of combination with a container having a unitaryinterior chamber space and constructed to hold liquid and gas undersuperatmospheric pressure; 7

- the atmosphere; a vent valve for controlling said conduit; and meansfor actuatin the vent valve comprising a well disposed within thecontainer in open communication at its top with the interior space ofthe container and having an outlet aperture at its bottom, a valvedevice 'for the 7 outlet aperture having a part buoyant in liquid andsensitive to change of the liquid level in the container to maintainsaid aperture closed while the liquid-in the container is above apredetermined level adjacent the lower part of the well and to open saidpassage when the liquid in the container falls below that level, and anopen drainable chambered body disposed in the well .and operativelyconnected with the ventvalve to JAMES L. HUDSON.

the character described, the v

